Banner blindness remains a topic of discussion. Visitors wouldn’t notice banners anymore, resulting in lower CTR. But if you make sure that your materials are smartly used, there is still lots of potential to generate transactions via banners.

Did you know that banners below the fold do not necessarily generate less clicks? 40% of the visitors that scroll below the fold will notice the banner placements there. Also quality content and the right context play a crucial role in the performance of an ad. In the end, it is position, format and content that are key. Make sure to find relevant partners (for publishers: how to apply for an advertiser programme – for advertisers: how to invite publishers to your programme), with the right context, to maximize your earnings with affiliate marketing.

Do you already have a strategy in place to get the most out of banner materials?

Michael von Stern, 46, leaves the zanox Executive Board with effect of February 28, 2015. He joined the Board as CFO/COO in January 2014 in order to support the merger of zanox and Digital Window and now returns, as initially planned, to Axel Springer in a new role.

Andreas Wiele, Chairman of the zanox Supervisory Board and President Marketing and Classified Ad Models Axel Springer SE: “I would like to thank Michael von Stern for his excellent work and contribution to zanox. He took on this role during a challenging phase and laid the foundation for the ongoing development of the company.”

Mark Walters, CEO zanox AG, adds: “Michael von Stern made a substantial contribution to the realignment of the company and greatly facilitated the on-boarding of me and my colleagues as part of the zanox Board transition.”

Imagine if an advertiser deactivated their ad media or closed their programme. If you don’t adjust your links accordingly, visitors clicking on that link will end up on a dead page and you will miss out on potential earnings. To avoid this, we have launch the Click Error Report, a solution to easily find out if and where you have broken links implemented.

Are you a blogger? Use your reach to recommend the Zalando affiliate programme in the zanox network to your partners and earn money through their success! Zalando is one of our best performing advertisers in the fashion industry and offers competitive commissions and support for its publishers. For every blogger that signs up for the Zalando programme and becomes active (meaning they will receive a payout within six months), you will earn an additional 20% discount code on top of the commission zanox pays.

How does it work? Just sign up for the zanox Affiliates find Affiliates programme and choose the Zalando deeplink from our ad media selection. Start promoting the Zalando affiliate programme on your blog and use the deeplink to the programme to start generating leads. For every confirmed lead generated via the Zalando deeplink, you will receive a 20% discount code to spend at Zalando, on top of the regular zanox Affiliates find Affiliates commission of €10 per lead. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t underestimate the power of your about page. Believe it or not, it still proves to be one of the most visited site pages. Keeping the page updated is key so your visitors can get to know who’s behind a website, online shop or blog. It builds confidence and encourages them to return. Below are the top 10 questions you should endeavor to answer to help you optimize this page. Read the rest of this entry »

Promotions are a great solution to boost the visibility and success of your affiliate programme. You can either run promotions with special conditions for publishers (e.g. higher commissions) or with benefits for the consumer (e.g. reduced prices) to motivate publishers to promote your programme. We would like to give you some inspiration for your next promotion.

We recommend to always run a test during a predefined time frame to evaluate the results in line with your goals.

Throughout the year, sales peaks are often driven by seasonality, so we have collated and organised the key occasions in 2015 to help you boost your sales.

The zanox Seasonal Calendar 2015 provides an overview of the most important dates across the year making your content strategy planning much simpler.

One calendar for all dates

This year, we have created an enhanced edition of the calendar to include all zanox events as well as other relevant industry specific events, public holidays and other relevant global and local events of interest to inspire sales. The new version will allow you to easily spot promotional opportunities including the Summer and Winter Rally’s and assist with future planning.

A printable version for all sizes

Click on the image below to download an A1 printable version of the calendar.

We wish you a lot of fun planning the upcoming year and the best of success in 2015!

Writing about your favorite topic can be a lot of fun and it is a nice hobby for many online enthusiasts, however, blogging as a profession is a little different; it’s a real job that includes many more tasks than simply writing. Content is king, but even a king can’t do his job on his own. If you want to make your blog successful, make sure to pay some attention to the following pursuits and we are sure blogging will deliver more than just a bit of fun. Read the rest of this entry »

Communication is a key success factor
Communicate openly with your partners about your best practices and provide your publishers with information about which products convert best in which time frame and for which target group?

Conversion rate optimization
Ensure the purchasing process is as easy as possible for your customers by testing what works best (read more about A/B testing here). Don’t focus on your desktop version only, take your mobile landing pages into account as well. Read here for further information.

Better product data
Offer product data feeds to your publishers and make sure to update them regularly. Did you know that you can include industry-specific data in our feeds?

Top 5 for publishers

Social media
Social media platforms are powerful tools to help spread your content and to build relationships with your visitors. Leverage an active following from Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram to maximize exposure.

Video marketing
And what about videos? Think about creating tutorials, product reviews or sharing your favorite products via videos. Showing personality pays off and it has proven to positively impact conversion rates.

Email marketing
Newsletters remain one of the best converting channels. Put time and effort into growing your recipient lists and optimizing your content. It will result in increasing earnings.

Create new partnerships
With new advertisers joining our network everyday, the pool of potential business partners grows continuously. Make sure to check new advertisers regularly via our website or Twitter and apply to their programme.

Product data
Since we have launched our industry-specific data feeds, you have the opportunity to provide your visitors with much more relevant product details.

We wish you a very happy and successful 2015 and we are looking forward to another prosperous year working with you.